An Allegory of Abundance

Description

This engraving depicts a seated female figure holding a staff surmounted by an urn filled with flowers, fruit, and wheat, similar to the urn traditionally held by Ceres, the Roman goddess of the harvest. The child grasping the figure’s breast in a fertility gesture suggests an alternate identity, that of the earth goddess Tellus. Robetta rendered the rocky terrain with heavy clusters of undulating curves, a technique likely inspired by early-16th-century engravings by Albrecht Dürer. The cartelliño suspended from the tree originally held the artist’s signature, but this was scored through before an impression had been printed for some unknown reason.

An Allegory of Abundance

Cristofano Robetta

c. 1515

Accession Number

4367

Medium

Engraving in black on cream laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 25.2 × 18.3 cm (9 15/16 × 7 1/4 in.); Plate/sheet: 25.6 × 18.5 cm (10 1/8 × 7 5/16 in.)

Classification

engraving

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.